Parramatta Eels thump Manly Sea Eagles 42-12 in

Parramatta Eels got their NRL campaign off to a flying start with a 42-12 hammering of Manly Sea Eagles.

Anthony Watmough made his debut for the Eels against his former club, and took a knee in the ribs from James Hasson on the first hit up of the second half.

Hasson was placed on report and Watmough returned midway through the second half as his Eels completed a seven-tries-to-two romp.

A hamstring injury to in-demand five-eighth Kieran Foran in the 64th minute and a suspected season-ending knee injury to Clinton Gutherson capped a horror night for Geoff Toovey's side.

With NFL-bound Jarryd Hayne among the 18,718 crowd at Pirtek Stadium, the Eels raced into an early 10-0 lead with tries from Semi Radradra and Will Hopoate.

After a sustained attack Brett Stewart opened Manly's account in the 20th minute before former Eel Cheyse Blair gave them the lead in the 33rd.

But the Eels had the final say of the first half when Radradra scored his second try three minutes from the break to reclaim a 16-12 lead.

It was a painful start to the second half for Watmough but the Eels piled on eight points in the first five minutes to skip to a 24-12 advantage.

And when Radradra bagged his hat-trick in the 53rd minute the contest was all-but over, Brad Takairangi and Chris Sandow adding further gloss to an already one-sided scoreline.